Rio de Janeiro, August 13, 2016 - Canada's Lucky Losers, Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk, are hoping to continue their win streak against Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands, the pool B winners. The Canadians have won the three meetings between the two teams on the FIVB World Tour, but they haven't played each other since 2015. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals, and the loser will be eliminated with a 9th-place finish.
Head to Head
Saxton/Schalk have won all three meetings between the two teams on the FIVB World Tour, in 2014 and 2015.
• Saxton/Schalk won 13-21, 21-16, and 15-11 in 45 minutes, Moscow Grand Slam, Pool Play, 05/27/2015
• Saxton/Schalk won 21-16 and 23-21 in 34 minutes, São Paulo Grand Slam, Round of 16, 09/26/2014
• Saxton/Schalk won 18-21, 21-19, and 15-13 in 54 minutes, ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball, Pool Play, 07/23/2014
Historically the #16 seed has never played the #2 seed in the Olympic Games.
Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk, Canada, Seed #16, Pool D, 1-2, 3rd Place, Qualified 16th with 4,820 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Ben: November 21, 1988 (27y8m16d), 200 cm (6'7"), 92 kg (204 lbs.), Hometown Calgary, 79th FIVB World Tour event, $239,037 career winnings (ranks 88th)
• Chaim: April 23, 1986 (30y3m14d), 196 cm (6'5"), 88 kg (195 lbs.), Hometown Red Deer, Alberta, 59th FIVB World Tour event, $218,912 career winnings (ranks 94th)
• Ben and Chaim have been playing together since 2013. They are playing in their 47th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 58th), $433,825 career winnings (ranks 41st).
• Ben has played in five FIVB World Tour final fours with one silver medal and four bronze medals.
• Chaim has played in five FIVB World Tour final fours with one silver medal and four bronze medals.
• Ben and Chaim have played in four Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Silver Yokohama Grand Slam 2015, Bronze Olsztyn Grand Slam 2015, Bronze Porec Major 2016, Bronze Klagenfurt Major 2016).
• Ben and Chaim finished 5th in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) and 17th in 2015 (The Hague).
• Ben finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships with Christian Redmann in 2011 (Rome).
• Ben and Chaim are currently ranked 7th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 4,400 points and 7th in winnings with $132,375.
• Ben and Chaim have a career 120-92 (56.6%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 71-46 (60.7%) record in 2015-16.
• Ben and Chaim won two gold medals on the NORCECA Continental Tour in (2012 Chula Vista, United States) and (2014 Turtle Beach, Trinidad and Tobago).
• Ben teamed with Christian Redmann to help Canada win a NORCECA Continental Cup berth in the London 2012 Olympics, but the pair lost a match in Toronto that sent Josh Binstock and Martin Reader to the London Summer Games
• Pool D: Lost to Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins, Latvia (9), 17-21, 21-18, and 13-15 in 55 minutes.
• Pool D: Defeated Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg, Brazil (4), 17-21, 21-18, and 16-14 in 58 minutes.
• Pool D: Lost to Nivaldo Diaz/Sergio Gonzalez, Cuba (21), 15-21 and 18-21 in 35 minutes.
• Lucky Loser: Defeated Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland (17), 21-19 and 21-18 in 41 minutes.
Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands, Seed #2, Pool B, 3-0, 1st Place, Qualified 2nd with 6,470 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Alexander: November 3, 1989 (26y9m3d), 198 cm (6'6"), 88 kg (195 lbs.), Hometown Leiden, 70th FIVB World Tour event, two gold medals, $314,050 career winnings (ranks 61st)
• Robert: March 21, 1988 (28y4m16d), 207 cm (6'9"), 92 kg (204 lbs.), Hometown Nieuwegein, 61st FIVB World Tour event, two gold medals, $305,862 career winnings (ranks 66th)
• Alexander and Robert have been playing together since 2011. They are playing in their 59th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 42nd), two gold medals, $611,725 career winnings (ranks 27th).
• Alexander has played in 13 FIVB World Tour final fours with two gold, five silver, three bronze medals and three 4th place finishes.
• Robert has played in 13 FIVB World Tour final fours with two gold, five silver, three bronze medals and three 4th place finishes.
• Alexander and Robert have played in 10 Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Silver Fuzhou Open 2015, Silver Lucerne Open 2015, Gold Porec Major 2015, Bronze Gstaad Major 2015, 4th Long Beach Grand Slam 2015, 4th World Tour Finals 2015, Silver Puerto Vallarta Open 2015-16, Bronze Rio de Janeiro Grand Slam 2016, Bronze Vitória Open 2016, Silver Hamburg Major 2016).
• Alexander and Robert won the gold medal in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) and finished 17th in 2015 (The Hague).
• Alexander and Robert are currently ranked 9th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 4,190 points and 5th in winnings with $148,375.
• Alexander and Robert have a career 178-102 (63.6%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 88-33 (72.7%) record in 2015-16.
• Alexander won the silver medal at the U21 World Championships with Christiaan Varenhorst in 2008 (Brighton, England).
• Alexander and Robert won one silver medal and one bronze medal on the European (CEV) Continental Tour in 2012-15.
• Defeated Dmitri Barsouk/Nikita Liamin, Russia (23), 21-15 and 21-14 in 37 minutes.
• Defeated Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen, Germany (14), 21-19, 17-21, and 16-14 in 62 minutes.
• Defeated Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, Poland (11), 21-19 and 21-19 in 39 minutes.